endsley



1931- L. E. ENDSLEY 9 ,855

TANK CAR STRUCTURE Filed Oct. 8. 1929.

INVENTOR Patented F 3.1931" mm a m res;. m smy;teammates,H manism tion and having adome near "the central portion thereof. In loading the t'ank cars,

- it is thelusual'practice:to completely fill them except, for the space within the -;dome. 10 .The liquid whichiconstitutes the lading ,of' the caris of course non-yielding and when impacts are imposed upon the car,

' same, great strains are imposed upon the draft gears. Draft gears aredesigned sothat their springs will be fully depressed 3 when the loaded car is moved 'at sayfive miles per hour and the coupler heads are brought into abutting engagementwith another coupler or other surface. At speeds in excess of the given rate of speed for I which the draft gear is designedto absorb impacts, the shocks to the car are very great.

; One O ject of my invention to P v means whereby a portion of the'liquidv load of a ;:tank car is deflected andcushioned during compression of'the draft gear. Another object of my invention isjto proivide means whereby the effective travel of speeds materially in excess of those for which the gear is designed' in'connect on withntank cars of former types. r

wherein the'figure is a view ofa tank car, partially in side elevation andpartially in section. a f r f V The car frame 2, the draft gearsESand the car trucks may be of any usual construction, the draft rigging being of course of ,the

usual spring and friction type that is yield-.

able or compressible to varying degrees at designed tohave a buifing capacity depend- V ent upon the weight of the car and length. For example, they may be so designed that Q9 their springs are fully compressed only when upon the draft gear-"at thelefthand endo'f- 1the car,.there,will be anend thrust-imposed :upon theleft hand end of the car-through inertia of -the liquidgcontents thereofe 1 In tank cars-ofithe .usualtypepthe liquid the draft gear will be increased and the gear. .willinot become fully compressedexcept at 7 One form which my invention ,rnay take is shown in the accompanying draw ng,

T NK-can s rnoctrunn "Applicationfiled'betdbergS,1929.. swam. 398,178.

brought into play to movement of i a icarl-at say five miles per honr; I I The car body'l or tank 4 may 'be'made-in any well-known manner, but instead ofrloeing provided with a centrally-disposedes j dome,- contains two domes and 6. The i f d m maybe of. any suitablediameter,- depending upon! the, extentfto; whichv it :is :desiredt'ogrelieve thedraft gears of s'hocks. V For example,1if the. diameter of the tank .4 6 I .be-Q g fiy inches, thejdoi'nes couldgeachasuit ablybe'forty inches-in diameter.

as during transportation or in switching the flhe domes 5 and 6 ,'are preferably: 'norm ally-air-tight, exceptthat the dome, 6,. may

be provided with the usual relief valve to 1.4

permit escape of gasesa-nd, withia {cover or closurev permitting accessthereto for the .7 purpose 'of filling the-car end of the car or.-.a pushingforce-Eexerted' being incompressible; the shock to .theldraft so gearwouldbe thesameas thoughithe car body 4 were filled witha solid However,

Lby my arran-gement,; the liquid is permitted; V to. become somewhatdisplacech since a por Ytion thereof adjacent to the left hand en-d ofthecar vvwillloe deflected upwardly intothe dome. thus allowing. for movement of substantially the entire body fof liquid .withthetank. Yielding resistance is offered to i this upward I movement-both: by the head pressure within the. dome'fi and by the; air

cushion developedwtherein, through riseof the. liquid.

I Thedegree of cushioningiunder given convarious loads. The draft gears are of course p i the diameter of the dome, dwithrelation to V the diameter ofthe tank 4;; Thus, if thedom'e -6 be made of greater diameter than shown ditions of operationwill';depend largely upon in e w naa t l la g ramqimt 'Qfl q id iii- .3

of the liquid so displaced,

sixteen inches, the main body of liquid will be displaced for a distance of approximately four inches. 7

By the use of myinvention, a draft gear which is ordinarily designed torbetfully compressed when the car is subjected to impacts at switching speeds of five miles per-hour will not become fully compressedexcept'at speeds of perhaps seven miles an'hour, depending upon the relative sizes ofthedomes and the e'a'r'body. V

My invention has the further advantage that the internal-stresseswithin the carbody' arising throughsurging or pounding 'of-the liquid when the car is subjected to impacts are reduced by'reason of the relief afforded through use of the domes-,as above-explained. Tank cars as at present constructed are'fre- Cal. I The cushioning effect resulting from location of the dome 6' is duplieate'dj by the use of the dome 5, whenshocks are imparted to the car in a direction opposite tothat above-de- ENnsLEY have placement of such quantity of liquid lading as'to materially dampen bufiing forces.

8. A vehicle having a tank-like body of elongated form disposed in parallelism with the line of movement of the vehicle, and a dome extending upwardly from a point adjacent to each end of the said body, the said domes having communication with the interior, of the body and each of an area to permit iisplacement if sueh'quantities of liquid 4;. A vehicle having a tank-like body of elongated form disposed in parallelism w1th the line of movement of the vehicle, and a (dome extendingupwardly from a-point adjacent tofeacl end of the said body,.the;said

domes having unrestricted communication withthe interior ofthe body and each of an area to permitdisplacement of such quanti- 'lading as to materially dampen. butfing forces, c

ties of liquid lading as to materially dampen buffingforces. v In-testimony whereof :-I,'the said LOUIS E hereunto set my hand. ILOUIS E. ENDSLEY.

'quently caused to leakthroughfluid pres-- sures developed therein upon impacts of the I scribed in connection with the discuss-ion of the dome 6, p

1f the domes are twenty inchesin height, and liquid rises thereinfora distance of siX- teeni'nches as above-suggested, the air will V be compressed to an extent-that it will have apressure'of approximately seventy pounds per square inch uponthe liquid, assuming of course that'the domes are air ti'ght, so that not only is shock-absorbed through vertical rise of the liquid in the domes, but a yielding resistance isoffered-by he entrapped air. I claim as my invention'z form mountedon said frame and disposed Railway car structure-comprising an underframe and a tank body of elongated n longitudinally thereof, a chamber communi- 4 A eating with-the said body and positioned to permitdisplacement of substantially the en tire liquid content under end thrust imposed upon the said body, and to receive a portion 2. A vehicle having a tank-likeebody'of Y elongated form disposed in parallelism with the line of movementof the vehicle, and a chamber for confining "air and for utilizing the said air to cushion movement of liquid within the said body, the saidchamber'com- 'municating with the interior of said body and being of suflicient area to permit dis- 

